Allen O’Neill: A History of Marching Orders

The 53 single-family homes lined up along leafy, looping Allen O’Neill Drive stand almost in military formation, neat and tidy, awaiting orders.

Those orders are being formulated, as plans proceed to level the 11-acre middle-income development neighborhood, built in 1953 for World War II veterans, for an affordable housing development for 107 families.

Historically, the Noroton Heights property has long been associated with sacrifice for the public good. It was there in 1864, that Darien philanthropist Benjamin Fitch established the first hospital and home in the nation for disabled Civil War veterans and their orphans to live.

With the blessing of President Abraham Lincoln, Fitch put up his own $100,000 ($10 million or more in today’s terms) to build a landscaped compound consisting of architecturally distinguished buildings: a hospital, a chapel, and residences.

Fitch was a strong supporter of the Union cause. He honored the soldiers’ sacrifice, answering to their needs by building them a home and filling it with expensive art and a library of several thousand volumes.

Fitch's Home for Soldiers was dedicated on July 4, 1864, one year to the day after the Battle of Gettysburg, and nine months before the end of the Civil War. It served more than 100 men who fought with the Union Army and, beginning a year later, dozens of their orphans as well.

Over the years, veterans of other wars—Spanish-American, Mexican and World War I—lived out their years at the home; hundreds are buried at nearby Spring Grove Veterans Cemetery.

Fitch, who earned his fortune as a dry-goods entrepreneur, died in 1883, leaving an endowment too small to maintain the large facility. It soon deteriorated.

In a fond remembrance of the Soldiers Home, Darienite Edmund F. Schmidt wrote:

"Anyone living near the Soldiers Home would hear reveille in the morning and taps in the evening. One would never forget the drum-beat of the long roll when an old soldier died. Taps would be played as the remains passed through the big gates."
    
The home won the heart of the community when the aged soldiers sponsored Easter egg hunts in the nearby woods for Darien children. The community was also invited to participate in its entertainments, including watching cowboys and Indians movies twice a week.

In 1931, the State moved the veterans to Rocky Hill, and the Home for Soldiers was reopened in 1940 as a World War II Naval Communications Training Center, the largest in the country. As many as 1,000 officers were on duty at any given time, and thousands more were trained to serve the war effort.

By the end of World War II, there was no interest in assigning disabled veterans to the former Fitch’s Home for Soldiers. The site was leveled in 1950 to make way for moderate-income veteran housing. Several buildings were saved. The chapel was moved to Noroton Avenue where it is the current home of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6933. Another building was converted to an apartment building, the two-story brick building on Allen O’Neill Drive.

The Allen-O’Neill moderate income veteran housing development was completed in 1953. It is named for Darien’s two young military men who died at Pearl Harbor.

Lieut. Eric Allen, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Allen of Noroton Avenue, was with a squadron of six F4 fighters on the evening of Dec. 7, 1941, searching for the Japanese fleet. The search was futile and Allen’s commander requested permission to return to their aircraft carrier, which would have to be lit up for landing. Permission was denied, to avoid making the aircraft carrier an easy target.

"Go on to Pearl," they were ordered.

Friendly fire from panicked American anti-aircraft units shot down the entire squadron as it flew toward Pearl Harbor. As Allen attempted to parachute to safety, he was riddled with gunfire and killed at the age of 25.

Ensign William T. O’Neill, son of Mr. and Mrs. William T. O’Neill of Stanley Road, was one of the first American casualties of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was off duty and asleep below deck on the Arizona when torpedoes sank it.

Today, a sign at the corner of Allen O’Neill Drive and Noroton Avenue honors the two handsome young men for their military sacrifice. The fate of the neighborhood itself remains uncertain, as town authorities continue discuss the veteran development and formulate orders for its demolition.

The Housing Authority will address Allen O'Neill redevelopment and the Allen O'Neill Resident Association at its meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The meeting is open to the public.